Psci: The St Paul's School Science Blog

tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-53809382022390255112011-04-21T19:30:07.876+01:00Psci: The St Paul's School Science BlogA science blog written and maintained by members of St Paul's School in London. Staff, boys and associated hangers on who wish to be involved should contact the editor for write access.Ken Zetiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06457013501363973692noreply@blogger.comBlogger161100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5380938202239025511.post-36086643665061423292009-03-26T11:08:00.003Z2009-03-26T12:37:50.810ZTo work with or against the government?

Last week I wrote about the new GCSEs and how my son was able to get a decent score in a paper through general knowledge and a bit of simple grammar. The meeting I then attended, to discuss these papers was interesting, but it was run under Chatham House Rule so I'm not free to discuss what happened. However the idea is to use the information gathered to sit down with the government and its

Ken Zetiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06457013501363973692noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5380938202239025511.post-65738313313805788232009-03-12T07:43:00.002Z2009-03-12T07:47:06.879ZThe new science GCSES

I've been asked to be part of a team looking into the quality of the new GCSE exams - seeing if they match up to the specs, if they are demanding enough etc. As part of my homework the Royal Society sent me a set of last summer's OCR Gateway papers to try. I had a look at them and then thought I'd do an experiment. I gave the first foundation tier science paper to my son to do. Zach is 8, is in

Ken Zetiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06457013501363973692noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5380938202239025511.post-51609309817962975142008-12-10T08:08:00.002Z2008-12-10T08:23:01.541ZAnathem

I've just finished reading Neal Stephenson's new novel, Anathem. Previous works by Stephenson have varied from the raw but entertaining Zodiac, through the hilarious Snowcrash (the best opening scenes of a novel ever?) and on into the labyrinthine and erudite yet readable, funny, sexy, gripping 'System of the World' trilogy. In this latest book we are transported to the world of Arbre, fairly

Ken Zetiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06457013501363973692noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5380938202239025511.post-76469521351131776232008-09-10T10:50:00.004+01:002008-09-12T07:37:02.209+01:00Eschatology

CommentSo the world didn't end. The dog didn't bark in the night and no-one gets sued for blowing up the Earth or swallowing it in a Black Hole. For some reason an old filk song comes to mind:"Don't start an interstellar war,It really has no uses.If someone asks you what it's for,you'll only make excuses.If 50 billion folk get hurt,you'll go to bed without dessert.Don't start an interstellar

Ken Zetiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06457013501363973692noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5380938202239025511.post-90325687161310954792008-08-02T22:55:00.003+01:002008-08-02T22:57:59.864+01:00Solar Eclipse

Just found this viedo of the recent total solar eclipse, recorded from an airplane. It gives amazing footage of the conical shadow.

rokisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02995856346660179519noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5380938202239025511.post-83564857666136229352008-06-24T08:16:00.003+01:002008-06-24T08:19:42.237+01:00Homeopathy - nothing to prove

New Scientist reports that Simon Singh and Edzard Ernst have offered a cash prize to anyone who can prove that homeopathy works. Then then report Steve Scrutton of the Alliance of Registered Homeopaths as saying ""We have nothing to prove"Well I really could not have put it better myself...

Ken Zetiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06457013501363973692noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5380938202239025511.post-86238888378915645812008-06-18T13:17:00.003+01:002008-06-18T13:36:59.419+01:00Zeilinger and Quantum Mechanics

When I listen to good jazz I am temporarily willing to suspend my disbelief in the soul. And the Abram Wilson quartet are good enough not only to have me believe in the soul but to make it get up and dance. Check them out if you like New Orleans swing with a modern twist and trumpet playing that will blow your mind.I was listening to them at the unlikely venue of the Institute of Physics in

Ken Zetiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06457013501363973692noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5380938202239025511.post-70857311828344850602008-05-21T07:35:00.001+01:002008-05-21T08:01:21.934+01:00MPs and Science...don'cha loveit?

Listening to our MPs debate science issues in the House of Commons is always entertaining. A couple of days ago an MP opened the Human Fertilisation and Embryology debate with the statement that humans should not be mixed with the animal kingdom.Now, I'm no expert on Linnaen classification but I figure it's already a few hundred million years too late for that.The abortion upper time limit debate

Ken Zetiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06457013501363973692noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5380938202239025511.post-25389732161518794112008-05-15T08:48:00.002+01:002008-05-15T08:53:06.443+01:00Misconceptions...and exam resits

A friend sent me this story on Tuesday...all true apparently (although a FOAF story...)This is an account of a conversation overheard in a hospital waiting room this afternoon. There is a misconception here, which you may spot!, which seems to have linguistic origins. An elderly lady ('granny') was having a scan accompanied by a younger woman ('mother'). As she came out from the scan a teenage

Ken Zetiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06457013501363973692noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5380938202239025511.post-9930672619824710322008-05-07T13:42:00.004+01:002008-12-10T10:47:03.864ZSPS Take on Planet SciCast

This year, instead of Paperclip Physics, Paulines competed in the first ever Planet SciCast video competition. Not quite knowing what to expect, we jumped right in with a dramatic presentation of the wonders and majesty of the inner workings of the rollercoaster. Confronted with the option of entering the project, our newly formed team, Team Go, consisting of team leader James Ko,

Ken Zetiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06457013501363973692noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5380938202239025511.post-65209982568218787072008-04-30T10:19:00.006+01:002008-04-30T10:31:25.471+01:00Which science books would you recommend?

A friend of mine just linked to 20 Science Books Every Scifi Fan (and Writer) Should Read. (By the way, I found his link not on his weblog or via an email but from his del.icio.us bookmarks. If you don't know del.icio.us, check it out: it's a great way of sharing web pages and blog posts that strike you as important — social bookmarking.)Which science books would be on your 'must read' list? Post

David Smithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04601691884356138468noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5380938202239025511.post-81986690617379107422008-04-21T07:42:00.003+01:002008-04-21T07:57:48.525+01:00Exclusivity and Demand

I was talking to a Professor of physics from Imperial College the other day and he mentioned that a few years ago they increased their 'standard offer' of A level grades required to get in from AAB to AAA. The effect on applicants was a marked increase*.It's an example of the exclusivity effect - you can make something more desirable simply by pricing it higher. I first thought about it when

Ken Zetiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06457013501363973692noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5380938202239025511.post-14063291029041027162008-04-17T16:10:00.003+01:002008-04-17T16:48:35.346+01:00Engineering at University

On Wednesaday (16th April) I was at a meeting organised by the Education Group of the Institute of Physics. The purpose was to inform physics teachers about what engineering and materials science courses are like and what the universities are looking for. After all, most physics teachers studied physics, not engineering (with some noteworthy exceptions!) so don't really know what engineers are

Ken Zetiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06457013501363973692noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5380938202239025511.post-18487029206627744092008-04-12T17:02:00.002+01:002008-04-12T17:06:31.426+01:00The Strange Case of the BumbleBee which Flew

This is a piece I wrote about 12 years ago for a science writing competition (it won first prize). I thought about editing it up and correcting some bits but feel it should just stand as it was, for posterity. I get many strange reactions from people when I tell them I am a scientist. Frequently I'll be told by my new acquaintance that they were hopeless at science at school, or I'll be asked if

Ken Zetiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06457013501363973692noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5380938202239025511.post-92171485445100157512008-04-06T14:55:00.004+01:002008-12-10T10:47:04.270ZComputing Post

So we all know Physics is cool, and lots of nice photos demonstrating interesting phenomena always makes for good blog reading, but I thought I'd throw in my hand as a proponent of the interesting world of Computing with a link to this article from Neatorama, basically outlining some of the history of early computers, dating right back to about 33000BC!So it may not be as pretty as a green sunset

rokisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02995856346660179519noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5380938202239025511.post-63602112366216069812008-04-02T15:48:00.006+01:002008-12-10T10:47:05.564ZA physicist on holiday

Well, a typical physicist on holiday - a week in the Maldives scuba diving and what do I take photos of (apart from fish, turtles, rays, sharks and coral)?A glory, a rising red moon, the green flash and vertically-pointing satellite dishes. The first image is of a glory or anthelion. This one was taken from a seaplane, looking down onto the clouds. In the centre you can see the shadow of the

Ken Zetiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06457013501363973692noreply@blogger.com0